MUMBAI, June 10 -- In three years, from January 2023 and December 2025, there have been 958 major accidents involving BEST buses, resulting in 77 deaths and 217 injuries, according to data with the BEST. Sources in the undertaking said more than 85% of these accidents involved wet-lease buses, putting the spotlight once again on an operational model that relies heavily on private contractors. On Monday, BEST committee members, comprising elected representatives, criticised the model, saying the system may need to be reviewed. "I have asked the wet-lease operators to reduce these accidents as people's trust in wet-lease BEST buses is dwindling. If things don't improve, we may have to do away with the wet-lease model," said Trushna Vishwasrao, chairperson of the BEST committee in the civic body. Sucheta Uthale, public relations officer, BEST, did not respond to HT's text messages or phone calls for comment. Under the wet-lease model, BEST contracts private operators to provide both buses and drivers. The loss-making corporation therefore does not have to invest in buses. The contractors bring their own fleet of buses, maintain them and hire drivers. The final oversight, however, rests with the BEST, whose responsibility is to ensure wet-lease operators follow its SOPs. The BEST committee placed blame squarely on the private contractors, saying they don't pay their drivers enough. A BEST official said, "We found at least 12 buses with technical faults that had been given the go-ahead to operate. These were withdrawn from service." In May itself, there were at least ten instances where BEST buses were involved in accidents and suffered maintenance issues....